Tray and tray opening mechanism

ABSTRACT

A tray opening mechanism and an improved tray are disclosed in this application. The opening mechanism consists of a pair of blades that are supported for both pivotal movement about a fixed shaft and rotational movement about axes perpendicular to the shaft. The trays are removed from a stack and inserted onto the blades while the blades are in a raised position and the blades are automatically rotated 180* in one direction and then rotated 90* in the opposite direction to initially over-bend the tray and then return the tray to an erected position, while the blades and tray are provided from the raised position to a lowered position. The improved tray has cutouts located at specific locations so that the blades may be moved directly into engagement with the top wall of the tray to insure that the blades are inserted between the top and bottom walls of the trays.

United States Patent [191 Mueller Mar. 12, 1974 1 TRAY AND TRAY OPENING MECHANISM [75] Inventor: Martin Mueller, Glenview, Ill. [73] Assignec: Owens-Illinois, Toledo, Ohio [22] Filed: Oct..l6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 297,998

[52] U.S. Cl. 93/53 BF, 93/36 SQ, 93/49 R, 93/53 so [51] Int. Cl B311) 5/02, B3lb 1/78 [58] Field of Search 93/53 R, 53 BF, 53 SD, 93/53 M, 36 SQ, 49 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,495,192 5/1924 MacNaughtan 93/53 R 3,606,823 9/1971 Allen 93/53 R 3,156,167 11/1964 Galloway... 93/53 M 1,989,286 1/1935 Milmoe 93/53 BF 3,038,387 6/1962 Pearson 93/53 SD X 3,143,937 8/1964 Martin 93/53 R 2,757,498 8/1956 Meyer-Jagenberg et a1 93/53 BF FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 656,359 2/1938 Germany 93/53 BF 525,459 5/1931 Germany 93/53 BF Primary ExaminerAndrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-James F. Coan Attorney, Agent, or FirmDressler, Goldsmith, Clement & Gordon, Ltd.

571 ABSTRACT A tray opening mechanism and an improved tray are disclosed in this application. The opening mechanism consists of a pair of blades that are supported for both pivotal movement about a fixed shaft and rotational movement about axes perpendicular to the shaft. The trays are removed from a stack and inserted onto the blades while the blades are in a raised position and the blades are automatically rotated 180 in one direction and then rotated 90 in the opposite direction to initially over-bend the tray and then return the tray to an erected position, while the blades and tray are provided from the raised position to a lowered position.

The improved tray has cutouts located at specific locations so that the blades may be moved directly into engagement with the top wall of the tray to insure that the blades are inserted between the top and bottom walls of the trays.

11 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures TRAY AND TRAY OPENING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In packaging and related industries, many types of packaging machinery incorporate mechanisms for holding trays that simultaneously support a plurality of containers which are to'be filled or processed for other purposes. Normally, the trays consist of a blank that is scored at four spaced locations to define bottom and top walls and opposite side walls. The top wall usually has a plurality of openings therein for receiving the containers.

In recent years there have been numerous developments in the art of devices for opening tray blanks which are normally formed of cardboard or other inexpensive fibrous material. Examples of such prior art devices are shown in Mayer Jagenberg et al, U. S. Pat. No. 2,757,498; Cook U. S. Pat. No. 3,080,797; and Winters U. S. Pat. No. 3,564,980.

While these machines have found success in the industry, difficulties are encountered in utilizing presently known tray opening mechanisms when the die cut trays are formed of cardboard material that is not necessarily self-supporting. Furthermore, most of the carton opening mechanisms or machinery which is presently in existence is extremely complicated in nature requiring considerable investment and also requiring a substantial amount of maintenance.

Thus, there remains a need for a simple and inexpensive tray opening mechanism which utilizes a minimum number of moving parts to thereby reduce the initial cost of the machinery as well as the subsequent maintenance thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A tray opening device of the present invention consists of a pair of blades thatare supported for movement to automatically over-bend the tray beyond its open position and return the tray to the open position while it is being moved from a stack of trays to a position for discharge onto a conveyor. I

In the improved tray opening mechanism, the blades are carried by blade support means that is pivotally supported on a stationary shaft which also supports a frame extending generally upwardly adjacent a stack of flat trays. The frame carries vacuum pickup means for sequentially removing the trays from the stack and inserting the trays onto the blades. The blades are then automatically rotated 180 from a horizontal tray receiving position to over-bend the tray and then returned to a vertical position while the blade support means is moved from the raised or upwardly inclined position to the lowered or horizontal position. This is accomplished by simple gearing means that are rotatably supported on the fixed shaft and are in mesh with gears on the ends of the blades. when the blades are moved from the lowered or horizontal position to an upwardly inclined position' by raising the support means, the blades again are automatically rotated from a vertical position to a horizontal position for receiving another flat tray.

According to another aspect of the invention, the flat trays are specifically designed to insure that the blades are inserted between the top and bottom walls. In the tray disclosed in this application, two side walls of equal width join a top wall and a bottom wall, which are also of equal width, and the lower side wall and bottom wall have cutouts which are aligned with the blades to allow the blades to directly engage the top wall of the tray before the tray is actually moved onto the blades.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the tray opening mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of an improved tray in an open condition;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken generally along line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4 through 7 show the respective stages ofa carton tray between removal from the stack and delivery to a conveyor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illus trated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawing show the tray opening mechanism, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, which includes a base 12 defining spaced uprights 14 (FIG. 3) that support fixed stationary shaft means 16.

A frame 18 extends upwardly at an angle from shaft 16 to a position adjacent a rack 20 supported on an upwardly inclined portion 22 of base 12. Tray 20 supports a stack 24 of flat, unopened trays 26 of the type disclosed in the open condition FIG. 2, which will be described in more detail later.

The frame 18 supports vacuum pickup means 30 (FIG. 3) for sequentially removing trays from the stack 24 and placing the trays on a pair of elongated flat blades 32. Vacuum pickup means 30 consists of cross member 34 having an elongated sleeve 36 secured at one end with the sleeve being guided along a rod 38 supported on brackets 40 that extend inwardly from one side of frame 18. The opposite end of cross member 34 has a roller 42 secured thereto which is guided for reciprocal movement along track 44 secured to the other side of frame 18. Cross member 34 supports a pair of conduits 46, the opposite ends of which are open and have suction cups or means 48 secured thereto. A negative pressure or vacuum is produced at a source (not shown), which is connected to conduits 46 through flexible hoses 49.

The vacuum pickup means 30 is reciprocated between first and second positions by reciprocating means including a fluid ram having cylinder 50 secured at one end to bracket 40 and at the opposite end to a bracket 52 with piston rod 54 of the fluid ram connected to sleeve 36 through an extension and nut 56. Fluid, such as air, may be introduced to opposite ends of the cylinder 50 through conduits (not shown) to move pickup means 39 from a position adjacent the tray stack 24 to a position adjacent the blades 32.

In order to insure that vacuum pickup means 30 removes a tray each time it is in the pickup position, frame 18 is supported for movement relative to the tray stack between a tray pickup position and a tray release The means for pivoting frame 18 consists of a further fluid ram 60 having its cylinder 62 connected to extension 22 of base 12 and its piston rod 64 connected to the frame 18. By supplying fluid to the rod end of cylinder 62, the frame is pivoted from the solid line position shown in FIG. 1 to the dotted line position to engage the lower tray in stack 24 with the vacuum cups 48. Thus, when frame 18 is returned to the solid line position, the lowermost tray will automatically be removed from the stack where it is normally releasably held by suitable fingers (not shown) so that only a single tray is released each time the frame is pivoted from the dotted line position to the solid line position in FIG. 1.

According to the principal aspect of the invention, blades 32 are mounted so that they are automatically rotated to produce the desired bending action while the blades are moved from a tray receiving position to a tray releasing position. As most clearly shown in FIG. 3, blades 32 are supported for rotational movement about spaced parallel axes on blade support means 70 through a pair of stub shafts 72 that are rotatably supported in openings 74. Blade support means 70 is in turn supported for pivotal movement on fixed shaft or shaft means 16 through a pair of arms 76 that have sleeves 78 secured thereto and encircling the fixed shaft 16. Blade support means 70 is pivoted on shaft 16 through pivoting means consisting ofa fluid ram having its cylinder 80 (FIG. 1) pivotally supported on a bracket 82 carried by the base 12 while piston rod 84 is connected to the blade support means 70 through a further bracket 86. By proper supply of fluid under pressure, such as air, to opposite ends of cylinder 80, the blade support means 70 can be pivoted between the angularly inclined position shown in FIG. 1, where the blades are aligned with the frame, and a generally horizontal position aligned with a conveyor means as will be described later.

Th cylinder and piston rod assembly 80, 84, forms part of drive means for pivoting the blades about the shaft. means 16 and also automatically rotating the blades about their pivot axes defined by stub shafts 72 as the blades are pivoted between two positions. The remainder of the drive means consists ofa beveled gear 90 connected to the end of each stub shaft 72 adjacent fixed shaft 16. Gears 90 respectively mesh with a further pair of beveled gears 91 that are fixed to a sleeve 92, which encircles fixed shaft means 16 for rotation thereon. Sleeve 92 is rotated between first and second positions through a fluid ram consisting of cylinder 93 and piston rod 94 connected to sleeve 92 through an arm 95.

The tray opening mechanism also incorporates means for removing the trays from the blades and inserting the trays on an endless conveyor 96. The means for removing may take the form of a fluid ram having a cylinder 97 carried by base 12 and a piston rod 98 connected to a pair of pusher plates 99 so that the extension and retraction of the piston rod 98 in cylinder 97 will push the open tray 26 onto conveyor 96 between a pair of upstanding fingers 96a that support the tray in the open position.

Before describing the operation of the tray opening mechanism, the improved tray 26 utilized in connection with this apparatus will be described. Tray 26 is clearly shown in FIG. 2 and consists of upper wall 110, lower wall 112, which are of equal width an are interconnected or integrally joined by a pair of side walls 114a and 11412, also of equal width and substantially less than the width of the upper and lower walls. Upper wall or top wall 110 has a plurality of openings 116 therein for receiving containers that are being processed, while the lower or bottom wall is impervious and supports the containerswithin the openings. In the flat stacked condition (shown in FIG. 3) one side wall 114a of the tray is located in a plane with bottom wall 112 while the other side wall 114]) is located in a plane with the top wall 110.

In order to insure that the blades are received between the top and bottom walls while the trays are inserted on the blades, the tray has a pair of cutouts specifically located as will now be described. As most clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, side wall 114a has one end removed between top wall 110 and bottom wall 112 to define a cutout 120 which has a width equal to the width of the side wall 1 14a. A second cutout of substantially equal configuration is formed in the bottom wall adjacent the same end as cutout 120 and the second cutout 122 is located at the other side wall of the tray. The reason for the cutouts 120 and 122 will be described in connection with the operation of the machine.

OPERATION The starting point of the operation will be considered to be the point at which a tray 26 has just been removed from the blades 32 and the elongated flat blades 32 are positioned where the transverse dimensions of the blades extends generally perpendicular to the axis of shaft 16 (shown in the phantom lines in FIG. 1).

Fluid is supplied to the cylinder to pivot the blade support means 70 approximately 45 from the horizontal position to an upwardly inclined position or tray receiving position. During this time, sleeve 92 is held in a fixed position and thus the pivotal movement of blade support means 70 will cause the blades to be rotated approximately so that the transverse dimensions of the blades are parallel to the axis of shaft 16 an the blades are aligned with frame 18, as is most clearly shown in FIG. 3. At the same time, fluid is supplied to the rod end of cylinder 62 to raise or pivot the frame about fixed shaft 16 and move the vacuum cups 48 to the pickup position shown in dotted line in FIG. I to cause vacuum cups 48 to pickup the lowermost tray in the stack 24. Fluid is then supplied to the head end of cylinder 62 to move frame 18 to the solid line position during which timethe lowermost tray will be removed from the stack and placed in the position shown in FIG. 4.

The reason for the cutouts 120 and 122 can now be appreciated. As most clearly shown in FIG. 3, the outer edges or ends of the blades overlap with the trays and extend beyond the adjacent end of the tray 26 with the blades aligned with the respective cutouts. Thus, the relative movement between the blades and tray will cause the blades to move into cutouts 120 and 122 and allow the tips or ends of the blades 32 to directly contact the top wall and the one side wall 1141b as the blades are moved or pivoted from the first to the second position. This arrangement allows for the blades 32 to be positively located against the top wall 1 10 and side wall 1 14b while the bottom wall 1 12 and other side wall 114a are being moved or held downwardly by pickup means 30 to slightly open the tray to insure that the blades 32 will move between the upper and lower walls while the vacuum means is moved from a position adjacent the stack 24 to a position adjacent the blades 32. Stated another way, the tray and blades are moved relative to each other after the blades engage the top wall and while the vacuum pickup means supports the bottom wall to partially open the tray. This position for the tray 26 and blades 32 is shown in FIG. 4 wherein the blades are located between the top and bottom plies of the flat tray. The vacuum pickup means 30 is then reciprocated to a position adjacent the blades to insert the tray over the blades, which is shown in FIG.

The blades are then moved from the upwardly inclined position to the substantially horizontal position, respectively shown inFlGS. 5 and 6, by supplying fluid to the rod end of cylinder 80. During this movement, the blades will again be rotated 90 by the intermeshing gears 90 and 91. However, during the lowering of the blades from the upwardly inclined tray receiving position to a tray discharge position aligned with the conveyor, sleeve 92 is likewise rotated in a generally counterclockwise direction as indicated in the arrow in FIG. 6 to rotate the blades an additional 90 and produce an over-bend in the tray where the positions of the side walls 1 14a and 1 14b are substantially reversed. This rotational movement of sleeve 92 is produced by supplying fluid to cylinder 93.

After the trays have been reversely flattened, the sleeve 92 is rotated in the clockwise direction, to place the blades in the vertical position shown in FIG. 7, at which time the tray will be in an open position. Stated another way, the gears 90, 91 and sleeve 92 cooperate with the flat blades to automatically rotate the blades substantially more than 90 in the opposite direction to over-bend the trays and then return the blades to a position where the transverse dimensions are generally perpendicular to the shaft 16 when the blades are pivoted from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position.

Fluid is then supplied to the cylinder 97 to push the tray 26 from the blades between the upstanding fingers 96a on the conveyor 96 and the tray is in a position to the tray to be formed of a relatively thin cardboard material, which, may not necessarily be completely selfsupporting. The use of the cutouts allows the blades to positively engage a portion of the tray before the tray is moved endwise onto the blade to insure that each tray is positioned on the blades.

1 claim:

1. A tray opening mechanism comprising: a base having stationary shaft means; blade support means carried by said shaft means; a pair of flat blades supported for rotation about spaced parallel axes on said blade support means; a frame extending from said base to a position adjacent a stack of flat trays; pickup means for sequentially removing trays from the stack and moving the flat trays endwise onto the aligned blades; drive means for rotating said blades about said axes and pivoting the blades about said shaft means to open said traysand align the open trays with conveyor means; and means for removing the trays from said blades and inserting the trays on the conveyor means.

2. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said pickup means includes vacuum means, guide means on said frame for guiding said vacuum means; and means for reciprocating said pickup means between positions adjacent the tray stack and the blades.

3. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 2, in which said frame is supported for pivotal movement about said shaft means, further including means for pivoting said frame to automatically cause said pickup means to remove trays from the stack.

4. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said drive means includes pivoting means for pivoting said blade support means on said shaft and means cooperating with said blades to simultaneously rotate said blades while said blade support means is pivoting. I

5. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 4, in which said means cooperating with said blades includes a gear fixed to each blade, and gear means carried by said shaft means and meshing with said gears on said blades so that said blades are automatically rotated from a horizontal position to a vertical position while the blade support means is pivoted from a first position aligned with said conveyor means to a second position aligned with said frame.-

6. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 5, in which said gear means includes a sleeve rotatable on said shaft and first and second gears on said sleeve and respectively meshing with the gears on said blades, and rotating means for said sleeve so that said blades may rotated an additional 90 while said blade support means is pivoted from the second position to the firs t position.

7. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 6, in which said pivoting means and rotating means are fluid rams.

8. A tray opening mechanism comprising a pair of elongated flat blades; blade support means for supporting said blades for rotation about spaced parallel axes; means for supporting said support means for pivotal movement about a fixed axis generally perpendicular to said parallel axes between a tray receiving position and a tray discharge position; drive means cooperating with said flat blades for automatically (1) rotating said blades approximately 90 in one direction while said blade support means is pivoting from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position to position the transverse dimensions of said blades generally in a common plane with said fixed axis, and (2) rotating said blades substantially more than 90 in the opposite direction and returning the blades to a position where the transverse dimensions of the blades extend generallyperpendicular to said fixed axes while the blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position; and means for sequentially removing trays from a stack and inserting the trays endwise on said blades while the blades are in a tray receiving position.

9. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 8, in which said drive means includes a gear on each blade, a sleeve rotatably on said fixed axis, gears on 'said sleeve meshing with said gears on said blades, and

means for (l) holding said sleeve in a fixed position while said blades are moved from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position and (2) rotating said sleeve in opposite directions between first and second positions while said blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position.

the vacuum means is in one position.

* l l i 

1. A tray opening mechanism comprising: a base having stationary shaft means; blade support means carried by said shaft means; a pair of flat blades supported for rotation about spaced parallel axes on said blade support means; a frame extending from said base to a position adjacent a stack of flat trays; pickup means for sequentially removing trays from the stack and moving the flat trays endwise onto the aligned blades; drive means for rotating said blades about said axes and pivoting the blades about said shaft means to open said trays and align the open trays with conveyor means; and means for removing the trays from said blades and inserting the trays on the conveyor means.
 2. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said pickup means includes vacuum means, guide means on said frame for guiding said vacuum means; and means for reciprocating said pickup means between positions adjacent the tray stack and the blades.
 3. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 2, in which said frame is supported for pivotal movement about said shaft means, further including means for pivoting said frame to automatically cause said pickup means to remove trays from the stack.
 4. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said drive means includes pivoting means for pivoting said blade support means on said shaft and means cooperating with said blades to simultaneously rotate said blades while said blade support means is pivoting.
 5. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 4, in which said means cooperating with said blades includes a gear fixeD to each blade, and gear means carried by said shaft means and meshing with said gears on said blades so that said blades are automatically rotated 90* from a horizontal position to a vertical position while the blade support means is pivoted from a first position aligned with said conveyor means to a second position aligned with said frame.
 6. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 5, in which said gear means includes a sleeve rotatable on said shaft and first and second gears on said sleeve and respectively meshing with the gears on said blades, and rotating means for said sleeve so that said blades may rotated an additional 90* while said blade support means is pivoted from the second position to the first position.
 7. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 6, in which said pivoting means and rotating means are fluid rams.
 8. A tray opening mechanism comprising a pair of elongated flat blades; blade support means for supporting said blades for rotation about spaced parallel axes; means for supporting said support means for pivotal movement about a fixed axis generally perpendicular to said parallel axes between a tray receiving position and a tray discharge position; drive means cooperating with said flat blades for automatically (1) rotating said blades approximately 90* in one direction while said blade support means is pivoting from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position to position the transverse dimensions of said blades generally in a common plane with said fixed axis, and (2) rotating said blades substantially more than 90* in the opposite direction and returning the blades to a position where the transverse dimensions of the blades extend generally perpendicular to said fixed axes while the blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position; and means for sequentially removing trays from a stack and inserting the trays endwise on said blades while the blades are in a tray receiving position.
 9. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 8, in which said drive means includes a gear on each blade, a sleeve rotatably on said fixed axis, gears on said sleeve meshing with said gears on said blades, and means for (1) holding said sleeve in a fixed position while said blades are moved from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position and (2) rotating said sleeve in opposite directions between first and second positions while said blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position.
 10. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 9, in which said means for sequentially removing trays includes a frame and vacuum pickup means reciprocated on said frame between a first position adjacent a stack of flat trays and a second position adjacent said blades.
 11. A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 10, further including means for moving said frame relative to the stack of flat trays to automatically remove trays from the stack and align the tray with said blades while the vacuum means is in one position. 